We began this archive as a means of assisting our visitors in answering
many of their health and diet questions, and in encouraging them to take a pro-active part
in their own health. We believe the articles and information contained herein are
true, but are not presenting them as advice. We, personally, have found that a
whole food vegan
diet has helped our own health, and simply wish to share with others the things we have
found. Each of us must make our own decisions, for it's our own body. If you
have a health problem, see your own physician.

Permanent weight control is difficult to achieve. Up to around 95% of repeat
dieters fail, regaining the weight that they initially lost. What about those
5%, though? Has anyone studied them and found out their secret? In her book
Eating Thin for Life, award winning[229]
journalist and dietician Anne Fletcher delved into the habits of a few hundred
folks who had not only lost an average of 64 pounds but also maintained that
loss for an average of 11 years. What did she find?

"[B]asically, they're eating the opposite of a high-protein, low carbohydrate
diet," Fletcher reported. When she asked them to describe their eating habits,
the top responses were "low-fat" followed by "eating less meat."

These dieters with long-term success also told her they ate "more fruits and
vegetables." Research seems to support this notion. One research study showed,
for example, that significant weight loss could be triggered in people just
feeding them extra fruit—3 added apples or pears a day.[230]
Harvard studied 75,000 women for a decade and the results suggest that the more
fruits and vegetables women eat the less likely they will become obese.[231]
A 2004 review of the available research suggests that in general "increasing
fruit and vegetable intake may be an important strategy for weight loss."[232]

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute followed over 75,000 people for
ten years to find out which behaviors were most associated with weight loss and
which with weight gain. They wrapped tape measures around people’s waists for a
decade and found that the one dietary behavior most associated with an expanding
waistline was high meat consumption and the dietary behavior most strongly
associated with a loss of abdominal fat was high vegetable consumption.[233]

Even after controlling for other factors, men and women who ate over a
serving of meat a day seemed to be 50% more likely to suffer an increase in
abdominal obesity than those who ate meat just a few times a week. The
researchers conclude: "Our analysis has identified several easily described
behaviors [such as reducing meat intake to less than three servings per week and
jogging a few hours every week] that, if widely adopted, might help reverse
recent increases in adult overweight… Increases in vegetable consumption might
reduce abdominal obesity even further."[234]

The sad thing, according to the Director of Nutrition for the Center for
Science in the Public Interest, is that "people keep believing that the magic
bullet is just around the corner . . . if they only eliminate food 'x' or
combine foods 'a' and 'b,' or twirl around three times before each meal."[235]
The reality is that most ordinary people lose weight without the gimmicks
Americans spend $30 billion[236]
a year on.[237]

In the largest survey ever undertaken on the long-term maintenance of weight
loss, Consumer Reports found that the vast majority of the most successful
dieters said they lost weight entirely on their own, without enrolling in some
expensive program, or buying special foods or supplements or following the
regimen of some diet guru.[238]
The most popular fad diet right now may be Atkins, but it’s not the most popular
diet, and not the one that seems to work the best.

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